Willmington NC

[gman]

The search for the triple digit AJ ... came close

A Special Thanks,

Chip & Arlen ... It was truly my pleasure and honer to meet you both, I enjoyed talking fishing with you both and really loved my time on the water with you. You guys are awesome and two of the most accommodating, genuine people I've met who made us feel like we were family. You guys are great even Chop bustin Chip ha ha

To the jigging nuts who braved the elements it was great fishing with and meeting all of you ... Al, Gene, Tony, Bret and the master Sami. Bret and Tony you both are very skilled anglers it was pleasure to drop some lines with you

The Charter: ANYONE who wants to get into non stop jigging actions needs to get a charter with Chip and Arlen these guys are some of the fishiest people I've met. Im already planning Part 2. Chip is fun to fish with and really knows how to run a boat and find the fish

Trip Report After months of planning we all met down in NC on Friday and proceeded to get drinks and dinner together. It was really cool because I felt like we all knew each other for years. The forecast was for 4' swells in the AM and then it would pick up again later in the day so the decision was made to leave in the dark and off we went

Every bit of 4's and a rough wet and bumby 3 hour ride we made it to the ground. I can sum up the trip in one sentence

One drop one fish, if you love to jig this is heaven

On my boat Tony, Bret and I dropped for the first time at the same time on the first drop and within 3 cranks off the bottom we were all tight. Big Alamaco Jacks at first and then the AJ's came, then Chip dropped and we were all tight again, and again and again. The drift Tunes, Chartruse OTI's and Nagamasa 400's were the hot jigs. I would have to say my boat has to of released atleast 50 + fish that day as I know I was some where in the high 20's and Bret and his father Tony were both there as well, we had several slobs pushing over 50 and the one big 80# Jack who smoked off alot of line off my new stella

The big boy hit and ripped off alot of line immediately and then from there it was slow and steady until he surfaced what a slob, not a 100 but a very respectable fish over 50" fork in the 75-80 class which unfortunately was 1" short of Sami "the Master" biggest fish.

Chip caught a couple of blackfin tuna on topwater and I had a shot at a big 30# class Bull Mahi but he spit it

The fishery: NC fishery is insane, tuna, Mahi, grouper and just rediculous amounts of big bruiser Amberjacks to be caught literally on every drop. I will be back sooner than you think because that 100# fish is there i know it. I found myself obsessed with the next drop

Gear: The Hots 52ex is without a doubt my favorite rod, I actually loved it more that the 48XXH for some reason and it put a hurtin' on the fish. My new stella was sweeeeeeeeet, very light an the drag clicker was. I did manage to blow up a Fin Nor spinning reel sounded like somone put a fork in a garbage disposal LOL. The JM 500 was great along with Bret and Tonys OTI rods

Glenn


Pictures and video to come



Captain Chip hooked up



Bret hooked Up



Tony Hooked Up


Glenn Hooked Up

















getting bigger





80 pounder

[gman]

Bret and Tony it was great fishing with you you are both tremendous people and anglers, I wish the weather held out one more day so we could have gone back out there

[MrBill]

Nice report. I know you guys had been planning this trip for some time. Glad you got to fish at least one day. The weather God's might have done you a favor for not getting to fish a second day. I've finally recovered from three days of rough seas over Memorial weekend. I'm sure your sore from fighting the seas and catching all those brutal AJ's after just one day. Rough weather will take a toll on the old body. It's hurts worse with every year of age.
I gather from your report the new 08 stella was worth the price. Glad it performed well for you.

Few questions for you.
1. Are all the AJ's in NC non eatable?
2. Did you see many weed lines on the way to the AJ grounds?
3. Did the fin nor egg beater break on a fish or did Bret fall on it?
4. Did anyone try to give a Saragosa a workout?

[peterk814]

1. From what i gather all the AJs in NC have worms other than the smaller ones in the 10-20lb range which are edible.

2. The nice thing about the carolinas is and from wilmington the blue water is only about 20to30miles out. You see weed lines often on the way out. Mahi are usually present at some point during the day when you are drifting or anchoring up for grouper/ajs

AJs are fun to catch but it does get old, grouper jigging is much more challenging in my opinion and much more rewarding when you actually hook up to a monster. i was happy to catch AJs but after the first few I regretting spending the money i did on special jigs/rods/reels just for AJs as they will readily take many of the cheaper jigs.

[peterk814]

hey glenn is that chip using a smith mariana rod? I just bought one as well

[JerseyBrian]

I swear Glenn must hate cameras Smile damn-it! Great trip guys.

Glenn, reasons why you like the 52XH over the 48XXH Wei World? Length? Better action with jigs?

[gman]

Originally Posted by MrBill

Nice report. I know you guys had been planning this trip for some time. Glad you got to fish at least one day. The weather God's might have done you a favor for not getting to fish a second day. I've finally recovered from three days of rough seas over Memorial weekend. I'm sure your sore from fighting the seas and catching all those brutal AJ's after just one day. Rough weather will take a toll on the old body. It's hurts worse with every year of age.
I gather from your report the new 08 stella was worth the price. Glad it performed well for you.

Few questions for you.
1. Are all the AJ's in NC non eatable?
2. Did you see many weed lines on the way to the AJ grounds?
3. Did the fin nor egg beater break on a fish or did Bret fall on it?
4. Did anyone try to give a Saragosa a workout?

Mr Bill ... my back is feeling it today ... the constant pounding on the way out and back just killed me and I literally I caught atleast 20-25 Aj's up to 80 lbs in 4 hours while dropping a 400g jig every drop in steep current. Physically demanding trip. Every drop I was hooked up. My adreneline was pumping so hard after every fish I just dropped and waited for the pain to start again but then I just became energized by the thought of bigger fish

The best thing about the fishery is its all catch and release, no one takes them because they have worms, we released every fish. No weed lines the current and wind ripped them apart alot of seperate grass

it started making noises on a decent AJ and then basically imploded, on the way up it started making noises. I said Chip Im praying I dont get zzzzzzzzzzzzz pounced on. ha ha

Bret has a saragosa I believe it worked fine. No tackle issues other teh the fin nor, I was tempted to toss it but I didnt want to ruin teh ocean with that piece of junk

[gman]

Originally Posted by JerseyBrian

I swear Glenn must hate cameras Smile damn-it! Great trip guys.

Glenn, reasons why you like the 52XH over the 48XXH Wei World? Length? Better action with jigs?

I just like the length, I loved it I used the 48 once and then use the 52 all day. Its the same blank but I felt the 52 worked the jig better and gave me better angles at atimes

[gman]

Originally Posted by peterk814

1. From what i gather all the AJs in NC have worms other than the smaller ones in the 10-20lb range which are edible.

2. The nice thing about the carolinas is and from wilmington the blue water is only about 20to30miles out. You see weed lines often on the way out. Mahi are usually present at some point during the day when you are drifting or anchoring up for grouper/ajs

AJs are fun to catch but it does get old, grouper jigging is much more challenging in my opinion and much more rewarding when you actually hook up to a monster. i was happy to catch AJs but after the first few I regretting spending the money i did on special jigs/rods/reels just for AJs as they will readily take many of the cheaper jigs.

Peter define challenging?? LOL We went 70 miles out searching for beasts. Challenging to me is being punished every drop to get a chance at the next which is hopefully a triple digit fish. Grouper jigging definately is tougher with the amount of bites per drop but I was on a hunt and praying the weather held out so I could get another day. Also I found that certain sizes and colors attracted the biggest fish. I was jigging with a 13" jig and consitabtly got some bruisers

[TBaker]

Originally Posted by gman

Bret and Tony it was great fishing with you you are both tremendous people and anglers, I wish the weather held out one more day so we could have gone back out there

Glenn, pleasure was all ours! Always great to fish with an expert. If the weather held, I might've died with another day of big AJ fishing.

Its true that at some point, this AJ fishing might get old. However, so would making love to the most beautiful woman in the world, but who wouldn't like to get to that point! I've fished offshore for a lot of years and haven't seen a fishery like this. What you're unprepared for is the sheer numbers of aggressive, quality fish. Give me the choice between this fishing and trolling for 8 hours for 1 bite, I'll take this every time. Particularly when you know the next drop could be that 100+ horse! (Oh, and you can always switch to groupers either in the same spot or one not too far away!)